Posted: July 23, 2005
8:00am
By: Bill Leon

I have not been reading much here so you maybe know about this, but
today I checked out these opportunities to apply for funding for
research into the topics on this discussion. Several are for $1million.
There is also funding for developing communities for interaction on the
intersection of science and spirituality. The deadline for the big
money is Aug 1.

http://www.templeton.org/grant_opportunities/index.asp
Templeton Advanced Research Program The primary goal of this new
research program is to foster innovation in research design as well as
the scientific scope and impact of religion and spirituality. A second
goal is to encourage the development of creative insights into the
forces that shape and expand world religions and the human
conceptualization of God.

The Templeton Advanced Research Program is a request for proposals initiative offering grant awards in three distinct areas:

a..
Religion, Spirituality, Healing and Health Outcomes: A competition for
two grant awards of $1 million over 3 years. b.. Religion,
Spirituality, and Human Flourishing: A competition for two grant awards
of $1 million over 3 years. c.. Competitive Dynamics and Cultural
Evolution of Religions and God Concepts: A competition for four grant
awards of $150,000 over 2 years. More details about the core issues in
each of the three areas are available at the program website:
http://www.metanexus.net/tarp

Cambridge Templeton Consortium:
The Emergence of Biological Complexity The John Templeton Foundation
has made up to $3 million available for research grants to stimulate
and sponsor new research insights directly pertinent to the 'great
debate' over purpose in the context of the emergence of increasing
biological complexity. Areas of research supported include:

1..
Chemistry, "fine tuning" in biocentricity, emergent order and the
origin and existence of life 2.. Evolution directionality and
convergence 3.. Archeological and anthropological research in human
evolution and the origins and early developments of purpose-seeking and
spirituality or religiosity The focus is primarily on innovative
scientific and systematic research, but projects with strong
philosophical or theological components are also encouraged. Grant
proposals from all sides of this 'debate' are welcomed. The deadline
for proposal summaries is May 9th, 2005. For more information,
evaluation criteria and application procedures, go to
www.cambridge-templeton-consortium.org/.

Local Societies Initiative
The
Local Societies Initiative (LSI) is a three-year grant program designed
to provide up to $45,000 in organizational "seed money" for societies
of scientists, theologians, philosophers, clergy, lay people, and
anyone actively engaged in the science and religion dialogue. This
unique program differs from other scholarly grant programs in that it
emphasizes building organizations, dynamic associations of people who
explore the implications of the science and religion interchange.
Members of local religion and science dialogue societies engage in a
variety of activities, such as reading and study groups, public
lectures, web publishing, journal publication, newsletters, and more.
LSI is a multi-disciplinary, multi-faith, and multi-cultural
educational project, intended to promote a balanced and exploratory
dialogue between the discoveries of the natural and social sciences and
the wisdom of the world's faith traditions. Each LSI group sends a
representative to the annual Metanexus conference held in June each
year. There are currently 87 LSI groups active in 26 countries. In all,
200 LSI grants will be awarded. Application deadlines are quarterly.
For more information, including application guidelines, best practices,
and links to existing LSI groups, go to
www.metanexus.net/local_societies.

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To
learn more about the Foundation's approaches to grantmaking, please see
our Proposal Advice and FAQ. You can learn more about JTF's grant
submission process in Submitting A Proposal.

Bill

Bill Leon, Ph.D.
President, Geo Education
17027 37th Ave. NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155 USA
206-914-6663 or 206-364-6665
email: billleon@geoeducation.org
website: www.geoeducation.org